The GOP’s health care secrecy

By keeping the process under wraps, Senate Republican leaders have largely bypassed the headaches and inevitable blowback when any ambitious piece of legislation sees the light of day — especially one that has already become wildly unpopular if polls on the House GOP’s effort to overhaul the U.S. health care system are any indication.

They’re also betting that for all the stone-throwing from the left, voters already convinced that Congress is broken won’t punish Senate Republicans for putting yet another dent in the institution.

“I’ve always said I would’ve preferred a more open process,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said. “But if you just wait and say, ‘Oh, we want an open process,’ then you never get that. So at some point you’ve got to play the cards dealt to you.”